Sleepless
by FictionHack
Summary: Serenity takes a stranger to Summerfair, but they have the feeling they've seen him before...


Kaylee was laying back in a lounge chair, under her favorite floral umbrella, reading one of those romance novels that Inara had given her. Inara called them trash, but Kaylee didn't see that. She was sure that this stuff happened all the time, especially this one where the handsome country doctor was all a'botherin' the daughter of the local laird.

She was paying so close attention to the book that she failed to register the carryall that had stopped in front of Serenity's open cargo hold.

The man driving the mule was older, 50s maybe, dark close cropped hair gone gray at the temples, but it looked right against his copper skin that had seen some suns up close. He wore coveralls, a short brimmed cap, and dark glasses. He stepped out of the cab, the dust on his boots adding another layer onto the ground, and he studied the ship.

"Firefly."

He had come close enough to cast his shadow onto the book, and Kaylee jumped up, all excited like, and knocked the man's glasses off with the umbrella.

"Oh, I am so sorry, so sorry." They both bent down to pick them up, but he avoided the collision and stepped back. The glasses were all now full of dust, and she tried to wipe them off and sort of just smeared it all around, so she went to spit, and he snatched the glasses out of harm's way.

She looked up at him, all embarrassed, but he didn't seem riled, and was smiling as he wiped his glasses with a clean cloth. Ice-blue eyes and a badly set nose, but a smile that caught her attention, for sure.

"Firefly," he said again, tilting his head at the ship. "Nice boat. Sturdy, good bones."

Kaylee nodded fiercely. "Yep, yes, she is, and she can haul," noticing the carryall and the precarious load it held for the first time, "all your stuff."

She looked up at it all, whistled once, and said, "Just where you going?"

"Summerfair."

"Summerfair? In the Georgia system? Off of Shadow? Really?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Um, maybe. The Captain was from Shadow."

"I see. An independent, then. I understand. I'll move on."

"Now hold on, there, Mr...Mr. what? I'm Kaylee, Serenity's engineer." Kaylee stuck out her hand, just now noticing the grease under her nails.

He took her hand gravely, and held it firmly. "My name is Yu. Tamar Yu. Will you take me to Summerfair, Miss Kaylee?"

She kept her face straight, but thought fast. The Captain had specifically said that she was to take any fare she could get that paid enough to fuel Serenity and filled the galley larders, and he hadn't ruled out any place, but she knew that going to Shadow, where he had grown up, and which was now a dead plant, would make him cranky, OK, crankier. Too bad. She nodded.

"Good. How much?" He wore a small smile, happy at the beginning of the haggle.

Again, she did a lightning fast calculation, taking in the quality of his goods, any sense of desperation (she didn't get any), and the possibility of him being difficult (she thought that there might be a good chance of that.) She quoted a price. He countered, and it was on. They both enjoyed the barter, a deal was struck, and they shook on it.

She told him, "Now, you can move that mule into the hold, but the Captain has final say so, just so you know."

"What's the Captain's name?"

"Malcolm Reynolds." She looked for any sign of recognition, an indication that the deal might be off, but he just shook his head. "Nope, I don't know him, but I like his ship. I'll move inside and wait. When's he due back?"

Kaylee wrinkled her nose. "Soon. He's got a meeting in town."

###

Which wasn't going well.

Badger was a right pain to deal with on a good day, but today something had revved up his engines, and he was fairly spitting, he was yelling so loud.

Mal stepped back to get out of the spray, and Wash and Zoe stayed one step behind him.

"Can he do it?" Badger yelled and pointed at Wash.

Wash started to speak, but Mal threw up his hands and said, "OF course, he can do it. You know what a good pilot he is. You've seen what he can do. He can do this." Mal was grinning from ear to ear, but stepped back onto Wash's foot. "Why do you want us to do this?"

Badger went back and sat behind his desk. "So, there's this race, see? From Persephone to Osiris, and my partner aims to win it. The aim is to take this token to Capital City. There's a rabbit, and there's dogs, and it doesn't matter how it gets there, so long as it gets there. " Here he laid his hand upon a golden Buddha, and continued, "Bring this to the Ma Sha on Osiris. First one there gets ten thousand creds in a platinum plaque."

Mal raised an eyebrow. "Ten thousand creds don't seem like much."

Badger snorted. "It ain't about the creds. It's about the winning. That's what these toffs do all day, bet on races."

"So why do you need us?" Mal folded his arms and moved closer now that Badger had stopped spitting.

Badger nodded. "Good boy. My partner wants to set up some, shall we say, alternate routes. The competition has three ships to dog him and slow him down. Do him in, if necessary, to keep that statue from making it to Osiris. You, you and your ship, you are going to take it instead. No one will know you have it, no one will know you are part of the race, but you get there first, and my partner will give you the creds. He's the rabbit. You're the tortoise. Got it now?"

Mal turned to Wash. Wash asked, "When does it start?"

"Three hours."

Mal shouted, "Three hours!?"

Badger shrugged. "You weren't my first choice, OK? He fell through. You want it, or not?"

"Uh, Captain?" Wash was looking a little green. "To do it, we need to get through the Asteroid Belt."

Mal smiled at Badger. "We can do it."

###

"Can you do it?" Mal was bending over Wash, who was lying on the ground.

Wash pushed himself up. "Of course, I can do it. I've done it before, but not at that speed. It was luck that got us through the last time, and luck ain't a plan."

"You make your own luck, Wash. That's what we do." Mal turned away.

Wash stood and grabbed the Captain's arm. "Your pride is going to get us all killed, Mal. You're going to get my wife killed. She'll follow you to hell and back, she will, and I'll follow her. That ain't the same as following you." He turned and walked off. Mal looked at Zoe.

She met his eyes. "He'll do it. But you might want to listen to him sometimes. Let's find Jayne and get back to Serenity." She turned and went after her husband.

###

In the hold, Yu was checking the straps on his carryall. He lifted his head when he heard a shuttle engaging the locks on the starboard side. He smiled as Kaylee ran into the ship.

"The Captain's back?," he called to her as she passed.

She turned, but kept moving. "No, it's Inara. She's a Companion," and then she was gone.

"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

###

"Oh, my goodness, you're back! So soon. I missed you. Tell me everything!" Kaylee moved in close to Inara who laughed and kissed her. Inara swept her silk robe down from flying position, and pulled the hair sticks from her bun, letting loose an auburn fall.

"Hush, little one. You take longer to ask the questions than it would take me to tell the story." She linked her arm in Kaylee's, and they walked down the corridor to the galley.

"What has happened here on Serenity since I left?"

Kaylee looked up at her with an uneasy smile.

"Well, the Captain's off with Zoe and Wash. They're down dealing with Badger, which never comes to no good. Jayne's in town, watching Simon and River. Simon thinks River needs some time off Serenity to acclimate to people. And..." Here, Kaylee glanced at Inara with clenched teeth.

"Captain told me to get a payin' customer, and I did, only I'm worried that he's not going to like it. The guy wants to go to Summerfair. Is the Captain going to yell at me?"

Inara laughed as they walked. "Kay', you know full well that yelling is his normal way of communicating. It's when he gets quiet that you need to pay attention. It's a paying client. The Captain will be fine."

"I think he's a soldier. Or was."

Inara stopped and stared ahead.

"Alliance?"

"Probably. He's buttoned-down and neat. Stands straight."

"What's his name?"

"Yu. Tamar Yu."

Inara whistled. "And Chinese, too. The Chinese were particularly effective during the War."

Then she laughed. "The Captain told you to get a paying customer, and you did. He'll take it and like it. I'll tell you what. I'll talk with him and see if I can't forestall any trouble, OK?" Kaylee nodded and hugged her

###

Mal ran into the hold entrance and started yelling. "Kaylee, get this boat ready to lift off? What the...?" Mal stared at the mule and its contents.

"Um, Cap'n, you told me to get a passenger, and, well, I got one. He wants to go to Summerfair."

Mal whipped his head around to look at Kaylee. Zoe stepped closer. "Summerfair? Why in all hell would anyone want to go to Summerfair?"

Kaylee shrugged. Mal looked back at the mule, and said, "OK, then, we'll take him to Summerfair, but we're going somewhere else first."

"Captain, there's something else I need to tell you about him."

###

"Mr. Yu, my name is Inara Serra. I use Serenity as a home when I am not traveling. Welcome aboard."

He stood and held out his hand. "Thank you, Ms. Serra. You are a Companion, I understand."

"Yes, I am. Are you familiar with the profession?"

"Oh, yes, I am. I've had the help of some Companions over my years, both for stress relief, and therapy, I guess"

Inara raised an eyebrow. "Therapy?"

Yu smiled at her. "I have difficulty sleeping. It helps to not be alone some nights."

Inara sat at the table, and smiled. "Why don't you let me help. It's actually part of my profession."

"How angry would you be if I turned you down?" He stared steadily at the Companion.

There was a beat of silence before Inara answered. "Not angry, but certainly curious."

Yu spoke. "It's not like I'm against it. I'm not. I was a soldier. I've...partaken. Perhaps more than I should have. I'm just thinking, my opinion, that your job, your profession, puts a barrier between you and your clients. Part of you stands aside and watches, calculates. You plan. You strategize. How will he react if I say this, do that? What does he really want, need? Will he pay me? Will he be difficult?"

He continued.

"You don't really have time to get to know someone, and that's a a shame. At the end of the day, night, money changes hands. And that changes everything."

He stood up.

"We've both seen too much, Companion Inara, to see again with innocent eyes. I'm no longer looking for temporary solutions to permanent problems. I thank you for your offer, but I must decline." He nodded to her and left.

Inara continued to sit at the table, but her view was distant, and her hands clenched. Mal watched from behind the bulkhead, and for once, he kept his mouth shut. After a beat, he came into the room, slapping his boot heels on the floor.

"Inara! Good, I've been meaning to talk with you about something..." Mal stopped, because he saw something that frightened him very much. There was what looked like a tear in her eye. Never, in all the time he had known her, in all the fights they'd had, both public and private, had he seen her upset, even a little.

"You OK?" He reached out to her shoulder, but something about her made him stop. He sat down, folded his hands on the table, and was quiet.

After a moment, she raised her eyes to his, and said, "I think perhaps I need a brief stay back at the Companion House on Madrassa. I seem to have lost some objectivity." She stood and met his eyes. He stood and moved closer to her.

"I was going to suggest the same thing, Inara. This may be a bumpy ride, and, well, I don't want to put you at risk. You're too important to me..., to us, and to Serenity. It would just be safer for you, I think."

She nodded and turned away, and Mal said quietly, "But you'll come back, right?"

Inara Serra turned back and put her hand on his chest. She smiled up at him and said, "Oh, yes, Captain Reynolds, you aren't rid of me that easily."

Mal put his hand over hers, and just nodded. She turned again and left. Minutes later, he heard the sound of her shuttle disengaging from Serenity. He sighed deeply.

###

"Evening." Mal stood a little too close to the stranger looking for a ride to Summerfair, a little moon orbiting a big dead planet.

Yu, shorter by a couple of inches, didn't step away, but rather kept his posture and a half-smile as he looked back.

"Captain Reynolds. Your engineer said I could book passage to Summerfair. Is that a problem?" Yu's thumbs were tucked into his belt, but Mal knew ready when he saw it. He stepped back.

"No, not a problem. Just a surprise. Not much call for rides to a dead planet."

"It's Shadow that's dead, not Summerfair. I understand you called Shadow home once."

Mal nodded. "Yes, but there's nothing there now, as you know. You part of the bombing raids, I assume?"

Yu shook his head, although his eyes never left Mal's. "No, I was across th 'Verse, chasing Browncoats, sector by sector. They were small, but fierce. You were an Independent, then?"

"Yes, and you are Alliance." It wasn't a question.

Yu nodded. "I was. I'm retired now. Looking to take my pension and live a quiet life. Is that a problem for you, Captain?"

Mal turned away and waved a hand at the pile of supplies Yu had brought into the hold of Serenity. "What are you going to do with all of this?"

"Build a home. Can't say that I ever had one."

"Well, I don't have one anymore." The two men stared at each other, until Mal broke it off.

"Here's the thing, Mr. Yu. I had made another deal while you were making yours with Kaylee. Now I'm going to honor yours, but I need to run my errand first, OK? Then we'll get you to Summerfair."

Yu shrugged. "I'm not in any hurry."

Mal cut him off. "Good. Get to your berth and stay there. I don't want you in the way." He turned and barked orders to Zoe and Wash, and strode away. Yu still had that smile on his face.

###

"You Alliance, then?" Jayne hiked one leg up on the bulkhead and watched as Yu checked the tie-downs on his mule. He seemed to be careful enough to keep the carrier between him and Jayne.

Yu nodded. "Yes. Thirty years in. You? On what side did you fall?"

Jayne gave a short laugh. "Neither. Spent that mad time as a body guard, waiting for it to settle."

Yu smiled. "Good for you. Keep safe that way."

"'Course, if I'da wanted to, I'da joined up. And that side would have won."

"Sure, it would have. You're that good. I can see it." Yu continued to check his crates.

Jayne straightened up. "You think I'm lying?"

By this time, Yu had been all around his mule and faced Jayne once more.

"Oh, youd've made a difference, I suppose, like a grain of sand makes a beach. You've always fought small battles, son, and you'd flip at the turn of a cred."

Yu was close now, look up into Jayne's eyes.

"You can't be trusted in a firefight. You're for hire. It shows. You've never cared enough to put it all on the line. You've never had a mission. You only had a job."

He continued to look up at Jayne, but the big man made no move, and Yu walked off.

###

"I don't like him, sir." Zoe stood straight.

Mal slouched. "Well, I don't like him, either. He's Alliance, or he used to be. Now he's a paying customer. I don't have to like him, I just have to get him to Summerfair. Then we see the last of him."

Mal looked at his second, who had been there right beside him for a decade now.

"What is it about this soldier that edges you so?"

Zoe shook her head. Jayne walked in.

"You know he's Alliance, right?" Jayne folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

Mal turned his head to Jayne. "Yes, since he told us he was."

Jayne stood up a little straighter. "Oh. Yeah. Well, he's a lifer. No doubt. You can tell the lifers. They watch you. Close like. Sooner he's off this boat, the better. 'Specially since he's got Zoe spooked."

Zoe turned and looked Jayne in the eyes from about two inches away.

"Say that again, Jayne. To my face."

Jayne moved closer still, not smiling.

"I'll say it again. You're spooked by him. Don't know why, but I know I'm right. It's not a shot at you, just an observation. I didn't live this long without sizing up my enemies and my friends. He's under your skin. Tell me I'm wrong, Zoe, and I'll apologize."

Mal held his breath. He'd relied on Zoe's strength, and he could see that this passenger was affecting his crew. Zoe blinked once, turned on her heel and left.

Jayne looked at Mal, who responded, "He's worrisome, like a sore tooth."

Jayne made for the door, but turned back to the Captain. "Sooner he's off this boat, the better."

###

Malcolm Reynolds was the Captain of Serenity. She was his boat. Maybe Kaylee was closer to her than Mal, but it was a tight race.

So, when he woke up from a dead sleep, it was because something in her was off. He put on his pants and his gun belt, and slid open the berth hatch, silently thanking Jayne for the grease suggestion.

Serenity was quiet, but there was a conversation going on in the galley. Yu. Yu and Book. And it wasn't friendly.

"You think hiding behind that collar going to save your soul? Not if dead soldiers have anything to say about it. You're going to have one hell of a gauntlet to run when you pass, Shepard. I hope I die first, just so I'm there to see it."

Book's voice was soft. "I made a mistake. Many died. I hope to be forgiven."

Yu stared hard. "Maybe God forgives, but Marines don't."

"I don't expect you to. You've been under fire. I'm just trying to atone."

"How? By being the in-house soul speaker for some browncoat brigands as they wander the 'Verse? Starting small, I'd say."

"And you? You're a life-long soldier. I know what you've seen and done. How are you going to atone?"

Two chairs pushed back violently, and Mal stepped into the room. He stopped at the head of the table and addressed the two men staring at each other.

"There are rules on my boat, rules you both agreed to when you boarded. If you want to get to your destination, or continue riding with us, you'll remember that."

Yu turned and walked back to his berth. Book took a deep breath and sat back down, staring off into the distance.

Mal leaned on the edge of the table. "Couldn't sleep?"

Book started, and then shook his head. "No. I thought that I had put some things away, but they came back to visit. Silly of me."

"You think he's the cause?" Mal pointed his head towards Yu's berth.

Book nodded. "Probably. He's a retired Alliance soldier. He knew me when."

Mal straightened up. "I have to get him off this boat soon. He's got Zoe riled, Jayne's keeping his finger on the trigger, and Inara, well, I don't know if I've ever seen a man get under her skin. Don't like that. Don't like that at all."

Book stood and looked at the Captain. "Then maybe you shouldn't get under her skin, either."

Shepard Book left the galley, and Mal stared off into space.

###

They were all in the galley, the crew and the passenger, getting orders.

Mal began barking. "We got a job. We run this Buddha to Osiris and we get ten thousand creds." He indicated the box on the galley table. "Someone else is the rabbit that the dogs will chase. We're the tortoise."

He began to point. "Me and Wash in the cockpit. Book and Jayne, you're with Kaylee in the engine room. Zoe moves where we need her. Everybody's got a job today, except you." He pointed at the passenger. "I need you to stay strapped in your seat while the rest of us run this race."

Yu looked Mal in the eye. "I think we will renegotiate the fee."

Mal smiled. "Happy to. We just need to survive first. Welcome to the new 'Verse."

And Serenity took to the sky.

###

Mal stood over Wash in the pilot's seat.

"Easy. Easy. Careful."

Wash snapped. "You want the con, Captain, or am I the pilot?"

Mal held up his hands. "It's your con, but it's my boat. I'm allowed...Holy, look out!"

Wash pointed to the co-pilot's chair. "Sit, or leave. Sir."

Mal sat and buckled in.

###

As Serenity entered the Asteroid Belt, Wash was firing on all cylinders. Entrance wasn't bad, the pebbles were like hail in a rainstorm, loud, but not damaging. It was when they got to the inner layers that things would get more interesting.

All too soon, there came an impact. Mal gripped the controls, but Wash was breathing easy. "Just rocks, Captain. Nothing bigger than us out there. Yet."

Mal sat back and watched his pilot, and wondered, not for the first time, why Hoban Washbourne had signed on with Serenity. He knew why the pilot stayed, for he had the strongest, if unlikeliest, relationships Mal had ever known, but now the Captain of Serenity watched her pilot make the ship dance.

Wash went up, down, and sideways, now fast, now slower, making his way, step by step across the field. His senses on high, he was checking his screens and his sensors constantly, while muttering to himself

"... I am a leaf upon the wind...I am a butterfly in a field of wheat...I am a bee...doing bee things." Mal tried to ignore the comments and pay attention to the view, and to Serenity's sensors.

Wash moved her into the shadow of a slowly moving rock, and both the pilots took a deep breath. Two more jumps, and they would be free of the Belt, and then it was clear sailing to Osiris and ten thousand creds. Wash accelerated just a tad, setting up for the jump, when there was a sound like God's hammer, and Serenity took a hard lurch to the port side.

"We're hit," yelled Jayne from the intercom.

"Dammit, Wash. I thought you could see these things." Mal got up to inspect the damage, when the boat was hit again. This time, it was Zoe on the comm.

"It's cannon fire! We're getting shot at!"

Mal hit the all-call. "Kaylee, what's her status?"

Kaylee's voice was shaking. "Jayne's down. Book's seeing to him. We're going to lose the aft stabilizer if we get hit like that again, and we won't have acceleration boost."

"Cào nǐ mā!" Mal whipped around. Wash was moving as fast as he could, trying to keep a rock between them and the attacker. Mal went to get aft, but they were hit again, from the other side.

"There's another one, sir!"

"Wǒ cào!" Mal strapped in to the co-pilot's seat, and grabbed the con.

"I can't see them, Wash. Can you roll?" Mal looked at his pilot, who shook his head. Mal could see one of them now, coming around a boulder, and he had no way to fight it off. They were trapped.

Mal ripped the seat belt off and slid down the ladder. He ran aft to find Zoe down on her back, blood coming from a head wound. There was a pistol in her hand, and it was pointed right at Yu's nose. He was kneeling beside her. He gently pushed the weapon away and held a cloth to her head. She was awake, and staring at Yu. Mal dropped into place beside them.

"Here," Yu said. "Fix her up. I'll help the pilot." And he left.

"Zoe?" Mal helped her up. "Was he attacking you?"

Zoe shook her head. "We've seen him before, Captain."

###

Yu jumped into Captain's chair and strapped in. He nodded at Wash. "Pilot, you ever heard of a Bavarian Polka?"

Wash nodded. "It takes two to do that. You ready?"

Yu took the controls. "On your mark, Pilot."

The two attackers were small cruisers, out far afield from a mother ship or base, and they had been outfitted with Talon-style striker guns. They fired a shell that opened as it approached the target and loosed an electrical charge meant to shut the target down without blowing it to pieces. They began to maneuver closer together. The effect of two shells fired at the same time and parallel would more than double the damage.

Wash goosed Serenity just into the path of an oncoming asteroid. The two attackers could be seen now, waiting for the field to clear before firing the kill shots.

The asteroid came closer to Serenity's starboard side as the ships inched toward the port. Wash began. "Ready, wait, on three." Yu nodded.

"One. Two. Three!"

It was a thing of beauty.

Wash put Serenity on her nose, swiveled the port engine to turn her completely, and then floored it in reverse, while Yu spun the starboard engine ninety degrees. The resulting move pushed Serenity up and out of the way of the oncoming rock, the rock the attackers hadn't seen behind Serenity. They had no chance. Wash spun her up and out of the Asteroid Belt. They were home free.

###

Mal, Zoe and Jayne limped into the galley to find Yu and Book staring at the box that Badger had given them to carry. It was open. Yu turned to Mal.

"Bricks. He got you to carry bricks to Osiris. You weren't the tortoise. You were the decoy."

Yu stepped up to Mal and stared him in the eye. "Get me to Summerfair. I'll be in my bunk." He and Zoe exchanged a look as they passed.

###

Yu was standing next to his mule, his arms at his sides, facing out into Summerfair. There was a box open on the mule next to him. He was waiting.

Zoe walked up behind him, her gun belt on, and cinched low and ready. Mal stood behind her.

Book stood on the high platform reading the Bible. Wash stayed behind at the bulkhead door. Kaylee joined Jayne on the port platform above the hold. Jayne said in a low voice, "If this goes bad, I want you to hit the floor, OK?" Kaylee nodded, but she was smiling.

Zoe stopped five paces behind Yu, and she waited. Mal stood next to her, his hand on his weapon.

Yu waited a few moments before looking over his shoulder. "I suppose we need to have this conversation, then?"

Zoe nodded once, and gave a terse "Yes."

Yu sighed, and reached into the box. Withdrawing a gun belt, he placed it around his hips. He pulled the service weapon from the holster, checked the clip, and verified that the safety was off. It was only then that he turned around.

And there they were. A Chinese military man in a white coverall, hands on his belt, inches away from his weapon.

On the other side were two Independent soldiers, one ready to fire, and the other ready to cover her.

Yu started.

"Yu, Tamar. Major. 3rd Battalion, Alpha Company, known as the Tip of the Sword." He went on.

"I was deployed to Hera, and tasked with clearing the remnants of the Browncoats from the Valley. What is it about me that disturbs you so?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't know. I feel as though we've met before. Have we?"

Yu sighed. "Corporal Alleyne, do you remember the name of the red-haired kid?"

Zoe pursed her lips at the mention of her unmarried name and rubbed her fingertips together. "What red-haired kid? What are you talking about?"

Yu took a deep breath. "When I came over the lip of that cave where you and Sergeant Reynolds were holed up in Serenity Valley, there was a red-haired kid just inside. I shot him square in the face. Do you remember his name, by any chance?"

Mal lifted his face, his jaw clenched. Memories flooded him. How could they not?

_Night in Serenity Valley, but lit like the gorram Chinese New Year from the tracers and contrails of the missiles pounding the Browncoat positions. Advance Alliance platoons had deployed behind the barrage of covering fire and were finishing the hold outs._

_Like him._

_An Alliance squad swarmed over the cave entrance and started shooting. He thought that he hit one, but there were too many, and when he saw that they had Zoe down and disarmed, he dropped his weapon and raised his hands. The Major punched him right in the jaw._

"Albert. Albert Watson." Zoe's face was still.

Now Yu's eyes left Mal's and moved to Zoe. He sighed. "Thank you, Corporal. Thank you very much. See, he comes to me some nights, and sits on the end of my bed. He can't say nothin', of course, 'cuz I shot him in the face, but now I can call him by his name, and maybe we can both get some sleep."

Major Yu continued to stare at Zoe, and finally Mal relaxed his shoulders and nodded. Mal said, "I never knew his name, either. Don't feel right about that, somehow."

Jayne took a breath, and Kaylee closed her eyes. Shepard Book turned a page.

Zoe, however, remained rigid, and both Yu and Mal could see it. Mal took a step back, but he put his hands back on his gun belt and waited.

Yu turned his eyes to her, equally as ready as her Captain.

Zoe spoke. "Your men, some of them wanted to use me. You stopped them."

Yu shrugged his shoulders. "Corporal, I honestly don't remember. I just wanted the hell out of Serenity Valley."

She nodded. "I understand. Captain?"

Mal nodded, too. "I think that we are all done here, Zoe." She turned and walked back to the hold. She reached out and grabbed Wash by the hand and they both went down the ladder to the berths.

Yu turned his back to Mal and began to remove his gun belt, his eyes on Summerfair's promise. Mal stepped up beside him.

"What are you going to do out there?"

"Build something. A place to rest. A place of peace. A home."

"I'd like to do that someday."

Yu turned around and looked into Serenity. He said to Mal, "I'd say you are well on your way."

Yu moved to the mule and strapped into the seat of the carryall. Mal leaned on the fender.

"That's a big job for just one man."

Yu nodded, still looking out.

"Truth. It's a lot." He spoke a little louder. "Shepard, you want to lend a hand, for a while? We'll build a chapel."

Book stared out, and then shut his Bible. "Yes. Give me a few minutes to pack some things." He turned and left.

Yu fired up the mule and began easing her out of Serenity's hold. Mal walked along with him.

"Once we get done with bouncing Badger off of a few walls, we'll come back and help."

Yu stopped the mule, and extended a hand. Mal took it.

Yu handed him an envelope. "Here's your fee, Captain."

Mal held up a hand. "I think we will negotiate that down to nothing. After all, you contributed mightily. We're square."

Yu shook his head, his hand still extended. "You need to fix her, you need to feed her, and you need to keep her flying. Take it."

Mal did. "Thanks, Major."

"No Major. No more." And he moved the mule off into the golden fields.

FIN


End file.
